In certain situations, it may be highly desirable and advantageous to have a close-up view of a particular location or scene from the safety of a remote vantage point. For example, in a hostage situation or in a stand-off with a suspect barricaded in a building or compound, law enforcement officials must often rely on binoculars or other telescopic devices for visual monitoring of the scene. However, such visual devices are generally only useful where a clear line of sight and/or sufficient ambient light is available. Helicopters or other airborne devices may be useful in some situations, but the expense, difficult and limited deployment capabilities, obtrusiveness, and limited visual access associated with these airborne devices generally limits the effectiveness of these devices in such situations. In addition, alternate or supplemental monitoring capabilities may also be desirable, but limited by access to the scene. For example, aural monitoring may be performed by magnifying or “eavesdropper” microphones from a distant surveillance point. However, the effectiveness of such devices may be limited by extraneous noise therebetween. In other instances, chemical monitoring of the scene, for example, may also be advantageous so as to provide advanced warning of any noxious chemicals on the scene.
In many instances, the immediate and transient nature of these situations precludes the establishment of permanent monitoring provisions on the scene. For example, the aforementioned hostage or stand-off situations are instantaneous and unpredictable and may occur in a wide variety of sometimes-inaccessible locales. Other situations which present similar concerns may include, for example, industrial or otherwise inaccessible accident sites, remote areas where reports of poaching having been received, or areas where enemy troop movement or activity is suspected.
Thus, there exists a need for a monitoring device capable of allowing close-up visual monitoring of a scene from the safety of a vantage point disposed remotely from the scene. Such a monitoring device should desirably be portable, unobtrusive, and capable of being expediently deployed by various mechanisms, when and where necessary. The monitoring device should also be configured so as to be readily modified to provide enhanced monitoring capabilities such as, for example, aural and chemical monitoring. When deployed, the monitoring device should be sufficiently rugged to survive the deployment thereof in proper working order, while also being capable of withstanding the environment at the scene. Such a monitoring device should also desirably provide a 360 degree field of view of the immediate scene around the device. In some instances, it may also be advantageous for functions of the monitoring device to be configured so as to be controllable from the remotely disposed station.